Missing tail on Neon Tetra

[andy216]

Hey everyone.

I went to my LFS the other day and bought 4 new neon tetra's. I didnt notice until i got home that one is missing the very end of its tail, not the fin, the actual tail!

I am not really interested in taking the fish back, but was just curious to know if the tail would grow back. It doesn't really seemed to have affected the fish much, he's just a bit slower than the rest.

Any opinions on what to do would be great as i dont want the fish to suffer, but so far the little guy has been doing well.

Thanks

 

[KimmyFishy89]

Fins and tails are like skin and bones. They all heal in time. Actually, they heal really quickly. Is the entire fin off, or just a piece of it? It's tail should heal in like a week at most

 

[andy216]

Hey Kimmyfishy

The entire caudal fin is gone, so the actual tail of the fish has been damaged. It doesn't look too severe its just that it is part of the fish, not just its tail.

Thanks for your help.

 

[KimmyFishy89]

No problem You should probably be able to see a kind of clear membrane thing forming where the wound is. Thats like fresh scale

 

[daz69]

Have you wondered why the poor fishes tail is missing in the first place

It sounds to me that he might has been attacked by one of the other fish

Just somethng to to think about

There might be some medication you can buy

Hope he pulls through

Daz

 

[andy216]

Yeah i did wonder why it was missing in the first place, but i have been watching him very carefully and no-one has been bothering him (from what i've seen). It could have been at any stage, at the fish shop or in the bag on the way home but it was hard to notice at first because neons have a clear tail and they never stop bloody moving!

I think he will recover fine, he is not being harassed and judging from what Kimmyfishy said im confident it will grow back.

Thanks guys.

 

[Eelzor]

One of my convicts tails were very ripped into several small fins about 2 weeks ago, now it just a little part until its fully full, so i am happy with it now, and yes the tail with heal with time as well.

 

[Spike14913]

Fins and tails are like skin and bones. They all heal in time. Actually, they heal really quickly. Is the entire fin off, or just a piece of it? It's tail should heal in like a week at most

Hi my neons tail got bitten off and it's been more than a month now and his tail still has not grown back, any ideas? 

 

[fluttermoth]

This is a really old thread, and most of the information in it is wrong!
 
If it's just the fin itself that's damaged, it usually does grow back, but if the damage reaches the body of the fish, where the fin actually grows from, then they don't normally grow back.

 

[PrincessKiara]

Wow, learned something new today!
My angels' fins are always getting tiny rips in them, they go away in four or five days tops...But I once had this platy/swordish thing that leaped into the sink, dried out and was pulled off by my mom. She left most of her scales and finnage there, but within two months it all grew back, and she was fine. I kept her in a betta cube (terrible, I know, but this was years ago and I didn't know any better) with some fish antibiotics until she healed enough to go into my new 28g.